Search

In this paper, an open-circuit fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control method of SiC-MOSFET for the coupled-inductor-based Aalborg inverter is proposed. The method detects open-circuit faults by calculating the slope of the sampling current, and identifies the faulty SiC-MOSFET devices through a reconfiguration control algorithm. In any operating mode of the coupled-inductor-based Aalborg inverter, when the high-frequency switch tube has an open-circuit fault, the inverter can be reconfigured as a Fly-Back-type or Fly-Boost-type converter to continue operating. The proposed method enhances the reliability of the inverter and does not require additional sensors or diagnostic circuits, thus not increasing the cost of the overall system.

Background The predictive importance of visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (VVV) for high blood pressure (HBP) in a pediatric population has been largely unsettled. We aimed to evaluate it based on Health Promotion Program for Children and Adolescents (HPPCA), a school-based surveillance conducted from 2012 to 2018 in Suzhou, China. Methods A total of 330,618 participants had BP measurement in 2018 and ≥ 3 BP records during 2012–2017, were recruited from HPPCA. Absolute BP values (in mmHg) were converted into age-, sex- and height- normalized z-scores. VVV was expressed as standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV) or average real variability (ARV) of BP z-scores during 2012–2017. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between VVV and HBP in 2018. Results In 2018, 42,554 (12.87%) subjects were defined as HBP. VVV, except for SBP-CV and DBP-CV, was significantly higher in the HBP group than normotensives group. After adjusting for covariates including mean BP values from 2012 to 2017, SBP-SD, SBP-ARV, DBP-SD and DBP-ARV, increased the risk of HBP by 5.70 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 5.54–5.87], 4.10 (95% CI 4.01–4.20), 4.70 (95% CI 4.50–4.90) and 3.39 (95% CI 3.28–3.50) times, respectively. Notably, SBP-SD significantly improved risk discrimination of HBP based on other risk variables (c-statistics, net reclassification index and integrated discrimination improvement significantly increased). Conclusions Higher SD or ARV of BP, was independently related with higher probability of HBP in Chinese pediatric population. SBP-SD could be potentially helpful for detecting HBP. Future researches investigating the predictive value of VVV are warrant.

Background Associations between trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) during pregnancy and pregnant outcomes remain unclear and disparate. Methods Data of 20,353 mothers without chronic hypertension and who delivered live singletons between January, 2014 and November, 2019, was extracted from Taicang register-based cohort. Based on SBP measured during 10 to 40 weeks of gestation, SBP trajectories were explored using latent class growth mixture model, and their associations with maternal and neonatal outcomes were assessed by logistic regression analyses. Results Six heterogeneous SBP trajectories were identified: low delayed-increasing (7.47%), low reverse-increasing (21.88%), low-stable (19.13%), medium-stable (21.64%), medium reverse-increasing (16.47%), and high stable (13.41%) trajectories. The high-stable trajectory had SBP around 125 mmHg in the 10th gestational week, and increased slightly onwards. When compared with the low-stable trajectory, the high-stable trajectory had maximally adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 5.28 (2.76–10.10), 1.30 (1.13–1.50), 1.53 (1.12–2.08), 1.32 (1.06–1.65) and 1.64 (1.08–2.48) for gestational hypertension (GH), early-term delivery (ETD), preterm delivery (PTD), small for gestational age and low birth weight (LBW), respectively. Besides, the medium reverse-increasing trajectory showed significantly increased risk of GH and ETD, while the medium-stable trajectory had significantly elevated risk of ETD and PTD. Notably, SBP trajectories slightly but significantly improved risk discrimination of GH, ETD and LBW, over traditional risk factors. Conclusion Women with different SBP trajectories were at varied risk of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Meanwhile, our study suggested that BP monitoring during pregnancy is necessary, especially for women with high SBP in early pregnancy or upward trajectory.

To investigate the potential associations between visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (VVV) and adverse birth outcomes in pregnancies, 48,209 pregnant women without proteinuria or chronic hypertension before 20 weeks of gestation who delivered live singletons between January 2014 and November 2019 in Taizhou or Taicang cities were recruited. VVV was estimated as the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of blood pressure [i.e., systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP)] measured from 20 weeks of gestation onwards. Pregnant women were classified into four groups according to the corresponding quartiles for each VVV index. It was found that VVV was significantly higher in women with small for gestational age (SGA) or low birth weight (LBW) infants than in their counterparts. Graded associations between VVV categories and poor birth outcomes were observed. In particular, when comparing the women with the highest to the lowest quartiles of standard deviation and coefficient variation of DBP, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for SGA was 1.15 (1.06-1.26) and 1.14 (1.05-1.25), respectively. Interestingly, the addition of DBP-VVV to established risk factors improved risk prediction of SGA; DBP-VVV demonstrated modestly superior predictive performance to VVV obtained from SBP or MAP. Similar results were found even among normotensive pregnancies. Our findings indicated that VVV during pregnancy, especially DBP-VVV, was independently associated with poor birth outcomes of pregnancies in East China. The inclusion of DBP-VVV with established risk factors may help in identifying pregnancies at high risk of SGA. Validations are needed.

BACKGROUND A body shape index (ABSI) is an emerging anthropometric indicator, challenging two traditional parameters: body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). We aimed to systematically compare and validate the capability of anthropometric indicators for determining pediatric high blood pressure (HBP). METHODS A total of 3150 participants aged 7-17 years were enrolled from Suzhou, China. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were obtained to evaluate the performance of anthropometric indicators in detecting HBP. DeLong's test was used to examine whether the AUCs of anthropometric indicators in contrast to BMI or original ABSI were statistically different. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was performed to combine results from this study and five similar articles from databases. RESULTS In Suzhou population, BMI exhibited the largest AUC (AUC = 0.705), followed by WC (AUC = 0.669) and original ABSI (AUC = 0.514). Modified ABSI (AUC: 0.537-0.681), although had slightly better performance than original ABSI, was still less valuable than BMI (P

Additional file 2: Supplementary Table 1. Latent Class Growth models results. Supplementary Table 2. The associatio Mixture ns of SBP trajectories with adverse maternal outcomes. Supplementary Table 3. The associations of SBP trajectories with adverse fetal outcomes. Supplementary Table 4. Reclassification and Discrimination Statistics of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes based on SBP trajectory.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Differences between characteristics of included and excluded individuals. Table S2. Association between visit-to-visit blood pressure variability* and childhood HBP among those younger children (